Battle of the Jinchuuriki
by Rokudaime Kunoichi
Summary: Set after preliminary round. Naruto doesn’t fight Neji. Instead, he fights Gaara! What secrets will be revealed? Light SasuNaru. Shounenai. Warnings inside. On hiatus. Details in bio.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Battle of the Jinchuuriki

Author: Rokudaime Kunoichi

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Set after preliminary round. Naruto doesn't fight Neji. Instead, he fights Gaara!! What secrets will be revealed? Light SasuNaru. Shounen-ai.

Warnings: Light Angst, OOC-ness, Drama, _**Child**__**Abuse**_, shounen-ai, etc.

Disclaimer: **Naruto and co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended. No profit is made from the making of this story.**

A/N: Ever since I watched the episode when Naruto and Gaara fight for the millionth time, this idea refuses to leave me alone. I hope you enjoy this. Reviews are welcome and appreciated.

Chapter 1

Uzumaki Naruto gulped inaudibly. He had just picked a number and now he was reading the chart that showed who fights who. Why the fuck did he have to fight that psychopath!? Gaara looked at him, and smiled a small, eerie smile. Naruto narrowed his eyes and tried to look tough, but it wasn't working out. He could hear some of the other contestants' whisper how he was going to get pulverized. Well, they'll just see about that. Naruto was going to train super hard and he was going to show everybody that he, Uzumaki Naruto, Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja, was not to be underestimated. And when Kakashi-sensei sees that he's better, stronger, and smarter than that Sasuke-teme, he'll want to train only Naruto. The blonde chuckled to himself at his plan. It would work.

* * *

"What do you mean you can't train me!?" Naruto screeched. His hands were balled into fists at his side, and he glared at the silver-haired man in front of him. 

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but I have to train Sasuke. Don't worry, though, I found you a teacher that is very competent at what he does. He'll be able to train you for the month, alright?" Kakashi asked, reading his porn book and giggling.

"I guess I don't really have a choice, now do I, _sensei_? Let's hope he's more competent than _you_," spat Naruto, huffing and stomping away. "Tell this _competent_ teacher to meet me at Ichiraku's!!!" Kakashi blinked in surprise. He expected Naruto to react badly, but he had no idea that the blonde would actually imply that he was an incompetent teacher. He was competent, dammit!!

* * *

Naruto glared at his ramen, stabbing the vegetables in it. Why does Kakashi always favor that stupid Uchiha before him!? He was so much better than that teme! And besides, teachers weren't supposed to favor students. The blonde grumbled and growled at the unfairness of it all. He picked up his chopsticks, mumbled a quick "Itadikimasu," and then digging in. Noodles flew all over the place as he gobbled down the food. 

"Ugh, your table manners need some major improvement," groaned somebody behind him. Naruto wiped his face with a napkin before turning around to glare at whoever said that to him. His cerulean eyes widened as he noticed who exactly was behind him.

"What are **you** doing here you **closet pervert**?" Ebisu glared at the blonde.

"I am here because Kakashi-san requested that I teach you this month so you can prepare for your match with that Suna nin. What was his name again? Garlan?"

"No, it's _**Gaara**_. And why would he ask _you _to teach me?" Naruto scowled. Could his day get any worse?

"How dare you, you impudent little snot!! I am one of the elite jounin!" Ebisu seethed. How dare this blonde moron speak to him with such disrespect! Dammit, he should've just told Kakashi no.

"I don't care who you are! You were still defeated by my Harem no jutsu, so you can't be all that great!!"

"Whatever. I don't have to teach you. You should be grateful that I owe Kakashi-san a favor," muttered Ebisu, adjusting his glasses slightly. "Now, finish your meal and we shall begin training."

Naruto glared at Ebisu before ordering three more bowls of ramen.

* * *

"Now, Uzumaki-san, we shall start with the water walking exercise. Just apply chakra to your feet and walk over the water," explained Ebisu, as he stood on water. After Naruto ate all the ramen, the two left to go to the onsen. Naruto did as he was told, applying the chakra to his feet, before stepping on the water. Instead of standing on top of it, Naruto plunged straight into it. The blonde arose to the surface spluttering. 

"What the hell! I did what you told me to, you stupid pervert!!" Naruto yelled, getting out of the extremely hot water. Ebisu allowed a chuckle to escape his lips.

"You must apply an even amount of chakra to your feet. If you don't, you'll fall into the water. That is more-than-likely the reason for your falling in. And I'm not a pervert, you impudent baka," the jounin instructor replied, glaring at his temporary (_'Thank god,' _he thought) student.

"Shuddup! You're a sorry excuse of a teacher! And yes, you _**are**_ a pervert!" Naruto said, his cheeks puffing out. The blonde continued to grumble about his temporary (_'Thank you Kami-sama,' _the blonde internally growled) teacher's incompetence before concentrating and applying the chakra to his feet. Naruto cautiously stepped onto the surface of the water. He wobbled a little, and thrust out his arms in an attempt to remain balanced. Ebisu began to slowly smile.

'_He's getting it…' _Naruto let out a small shriek of terror and indignation as he once again plunged into the water. Ebisu's smile left as quickly as it came. _'Or not…' _

"Try it again," commanded the elite jounin as Naruto climbed out of the onsen. Blue eyes fiercely glared at him. Pink lips curled into a vicious smirk, before tan hands formed familiar hand signs. Ebisu's eyes widened as he realized what exactly was going to happen.

"Harem no jutsu," muttered Naruto. Immediately fifteen clones appeared and transformed into a naked blonde. Ebisu gulped as his eyes wandered up and down. The blonde female had medium-sized breasts, a flat stomach, curvy hips, slender legs, feminine hands, and long hair. His throat closed up as he heard all of them giggle at the same time. A trickle of blood ran down his nose, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and Ebisu passed out. The clones disappeared and Naruto stood where one was.

"Tch, pervert." The blonde sighed and ran a hand through his head. Damn that Kakashi! This was all his fault. Why couldn't the stupid jounin just train him or find him an awesome teacher? Now, he was stuck fending for himself. Naruto glared at the unconscious form of Ebisu one last time before stomping away. Well, he would've stomped away if he hadn't heard a sound he was all too familiar with. Naruto's eyebrow twitched as he followed the noise—the perverted giggle—all the way to the women's side of the onsen.

'_What the hell is with all of these perverted old men!? Don't they have anything better to do than to peep at naked women all day?' _Naruto huffed, staring at the white-haired old man who was the culprit. The man was scribbling stuff in a little notepad, a large smile dancing on his face and his eyes glazed over. The blonde let out an evil smirk. Well, if the old man wanted to see a naked woman, he was going to.

"Oorioke no Jutsu," whispered Naruto. There was a puff of smoke and in his place stood a naked blonde woman. He grabbed a leaf and whispered a quick substitution jutsu. The leaf changed into a towel, and he wrapped it around his body. "Let's see how he likes this." Naruto walked to the old man, swaying his hips. The white-haired pervert looked at him and started drooling.

"Excuse me, sir, but what are you doing here? This is the female side of the onsen," muttered Naruto in a feminine voice, biting his lower lip and blushing.

"I was just doing some research! Nothing to worry about, pretty lady," assured the pervert. "Say, would you like to be a part of my research? I could turn you into a star." Naruto appeared thoughtful on the outside, but on the inside he was rolling his eyes.

'_Jeez, could this guy get any weirder?' _he thought.

"Um, no thanks." The pervert looked disappointed.

"Aw, are you sure? With a body like yours, you'd be my number one star!!"

"I'm sure you tell that to all the women you meet," mumbled Naruto, tears welling up in his eyes. "How can you be so heartless!?" The pervert looked shocked.

"No, I don't tell this to everyone! You got to believe me!"

"Well, I don't! PERVERT!! PERVERT IN THE FEMALE SIDE OF THE ONSEN!" Naruto shrieked at the top of his lungs. The white-haired man had a look of extreme horror on his face before he was pummeled by at least fifteen women who had ran out of the onsen after hearing Naruto's exclamation.

"You creep! Do you have no shame!?", "You're an enemy to all women!", and "Wait till my husband finds out! You are so dead!" were a few things that the women yelled after beating the living stuffing out of the white-haired man. Naruto laughed, tears streaming down his face before changing back into his original form.

"That was fun," murmured Naruto happily. "Now, to find myself a teacher..." The blonde started to walk away when a strong hand gripped his shoulder, eliciting a squeal of surprise. He was shocked to see the white-haired pervert glare at him.

"You little runt," the pervert started. "What the hell is your problem!? What did I do to deserve that mean trick you pulled?" Naruto looked at him incredulously.

"Are you for real? You're a pervert! You shouldn't have been spying on those women anyways! And how did _you _know I pulled that prank on you?" The pervert punched Naruto on the head, surprising the blonde with the force behind that punch.

"For one thing, if I didn't know, you just told me. Another thing, I'm no idiot. And lastly, I'm not a pervert!! I'M A SUPER PERVERT!" A vein popped in Naruto's head.

"Irregardless! You're still creepy and you deserved every single blow that those ladies dealt you. So there," Naruto stuck out his tongue.

"Jeez, it seems like Sarutobi-sensei and the rest of this village are allowing bakas to become shinobi. I wonder how long it'll take before Konoha crumbles," muttered the man. Naruto's eyes widened.

"What did you just say!?" The man looked at him lazily.

"I do believe you heard me, therefore I don't feel the need to repeat myself." (1)

"Why, you—!" Naruto furiously launched himself at the man, who dodged the move swiftly. The blonde absentmindedly wondered how an old man could move that fast. Naruto jumped a few feet away from the man and smirked. This man was obviously a shinobi and from what Naruto could tell, he was good.

'_This'll be great practice! Maybe if I beat him up, I'll be strong enough to take on that psycho!' _thought Naruto. His mind was turning wheels as he thought of ways to defeat this man.

"You shouldn't let your guard down," muttered a voice behind him. The blonde's eyes widened as he felt the man punch him in the back. He fell forward, and turned around quickly to glare at the person.

"I'm gonna get you for that! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," said Naruto, his hands already performing the correct seals. The pervert's eyes widened as he obviously recognized the jutsu.

"Who taught you a Jounin-level technique?!?" he demanded, his eyes narrowed. Naruto smirked.

"Like I'm _really _going to give away that information. What if you're an enemy of the leaf or something? And besides, at the moment, you _are_ my enemy. Plus, I don't have to tell you anything, you creep!" The man's eyes narrowed even further.

"Are you an idiot? Wait, don't answer that. And I'm a Konoha shinobi, baka. My hitai-ate is right here," the man explained, pointing at his thigh that did indeed have the hitai-ate on it. Naruto flushed a deep red.

"Sorry, but last time I checked, that was a _head_band, not a _thigh_band. Idiot," retorted the blonde, happy at his comeback. "Anyways, that's enough talk!" The pervert's eyes widened as he realized that while they were talking, the clones successfully surrounded him and the perimeter around them.

'_Very smart. Not bad considering how much of an idiot he really is,' _thought the pervert.

"While I have to admit, you distracting me was pretty good. Unfortunately, it's not good enough." The man formed quick seals and muttered something that Naruto couldn't hear. Then the man slammed his hand on the ground, seals appeared, and then there was smoke. The blonde coughed, and the smoke dissipated. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the man sit on a rather large frog.

"What the hell is that stupid frog doing here?" Naruto screeched. That was _sooo_ cheating!

"Who the hell are you calling stupid!?" the frog yelled, his displeasure at being called stupid written all over his face.

"What the hell!? Frogs don't talk!!"

"I'm a summon, you stupid blonde!!" (2)

"I am not stupid!"

"Yes, you are! Moron!"

"I'm not a moron either! You stupid reptile!"

"I'm an amphibian!!" The frog and Naruto glared at each other. The pervert looked extremely bored.

"GamaTsuki, you may leave. This idiot is not worth your time," ordered the white-haired man.

"Damn straight, he isn't," grumbled the frog as he 'poof'ed away.

"Listen, kid, why don't you go home to your mommy or something? It's obvious that you are not ready for the life of a ninja. Just give up while you're ahead," said the pervert as he walked away. Naruto's fists clenched as he remembered what the villagers had said.

'_Why don't you just die, you monster!?'_

'_Haven't you caused enough trouble, you stupid murderer!?'_

'_Nobody will ever love you, so just stop trying you pathetic waste.'_

'_Demon!'_

'_Monster!'_

'_You'll never be Hokage, so you should just give up.'_

Naruto growled, glaring at the man's back.

"YOU LISTEN TO ME, YOU BASTARD! I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP ON _ANYTHING_! NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU OR THE VILLAGERS TRY! I'M UZUMAKI NARUTO, AND SOMEDAY I'LL BE HOKAGE! JUST YOU WAIT!! I'LL PROVE YOU AND EVERYBODY ELSE WRONG!" Naruto yelled, panting heavily before he turned and started to run to the village. If he stuck around, he would've noticed the pervert had stopped and turned to look at him, disbelief written all over his face.

'_That was Uzumaki Naruto? The kid that holds the Kyuubi inside him? Arashi-kun's son!?' _His eyes narrowed into slits. _'I suppose I had better have a talk with sensei.' _The man disappeared in a swirl of leaves with no evidence of him every being there in the first place.

* * *

Naruto gripped the ropes of the swing tightly. His throat stung, and his eyes were starting to get blurry. Taking deep breaths, he willed himself not to cry. Why did everybody always assume that he was good for nothing? Was it because he was the container for the Kyuubi? It's not like it's his fault that the damn thing was sealed inside him! The blonde angrily kicked an innocent rock, sending it flying. 

'_I'll prove them wrong! They'll all regret the day they messed with me,' _thought Naruto darkly. He sighed and got off of the swing. He did enough moping around for one day. First, he was going to get a teach—_grumble. _Naruto sweatdropped. Um, first he was going to get something to eat. And _**then**_ he'd get a teacher. A smile firmly planted on his face, Naruto ran all the way to Ichiraku.

"Four orders of miso pork, please!" he yelled happily. The old man smiled and began to make the food. Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out four coupons for free ramen. Thank goodness he had decided to shove loads of coupons in his pocket before he left his apartment this morning.

* * *

"Sensei, you have an awful lot of explaining to do," growled the white-haired man as he sat down in the Sandaime Hokage's office. His old sensei seemed to have been anticipating his arrival since his facial expression remained one of indifference. 

"Jiraiya, how nice to see you again after all these years," greeted the old man, inhaling from his pipe.

"Cut the crap, Sarutobi-sensei. What's the deal with the way the villager's are treating Arashi-kun's son?" The old Hokage sighed, and stared at a picture that was framed on his desk.

"You weren't there, Jiraiya. All you did was help in the battle against Kyuubi and then you left right after Arashi-kun died. You didn't stay to here the announcement I made. Arashi-kun asked me to create a law prohibiting anybody and everybody who remembered the Kyuubi incident from telling the next generation about it. He wanted his son to be treated like the hero he is. But, that's not what happened. The pain, anger, and hurt from losing their loved ones made the villagers go crazy. They wanted to kill him, Jiraiya. They almost succeeded, too. If it weren't for the few members on the council that saw Naruto as Arashi wanted him to, they would've executed an innocent child.

"Unfortunately, while I was able to stop them from killing Naruto, I wasn't always able to stop them from hurting him. I had to assign ANBU to watch over him. More than fifteen times did he nearly die. The only thing stopping that was Kyuubi healing him. I think the only reason why that fox heals Naruto is because of the seal placed on Naruto. If Naruto dies, Kyuubi dies. Otherwise, Naruto-kun would've joined his father in the underworld a long time ago." Jiraiya sat still, his face in shock. He hadn't realized just what type of trouble his favorite student's son would have gone through if he left.

"I should've taken him with me," mumbled Jiraiya. "I should've done something to help Arashi-kun's son." Sarutobi smiled sadly at his student.

"It's not your fault." Jiraiya was about to say something when the door burst open. Both old men turned to see Uzumaki Naruto in the flesh. Naruto took one glance at Jiraiya before yelling.

"YOU!?"

A/N: Hope you like it. Reviews would be nice.

(1) I say this all the time.

(2) I have nothing against blondes, being blonde before myself. I just thought it'd be funny in this story. :D


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Battle of the Jinchuuriki

Author: Rokudaime Kunoichi

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Set after preliminary round. Naruto doesn't fight Neji. Instead, he fights Gaara!! What secrets will be revealed? Light SasuNaru.

Warnings: Light Angst, OOC-ness, Drama, _**Child**__**Abuse**_, shounen-ai, etc.

Disclaimer: **Naruto and co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended. No profit is made from the making of this story.**

A/N: Hope everybody likes this chapter. Originally, this story was going to be a oneshot, but the plot bunny decided to eat lots of idea carrots, and it grew exponentially. –giggle- Also, a reviewer mentioned the release of the Yondaime's real name. I do know it, but I'd rather stick with Arashi. Plus, not everybody knows it and I'd rather not spoil it for them.

Chapter 2

"Yes, me. Nice to see you again, gaki," smirked Jiraiya. Naruto huffed. The blonde thought he had gotten rid of the pervert half an hour ago.

"And just what the hell are you doing here? I already told you, I'm not giving up on my dream," grumbled Naruto.

"Actually, Jiraiya-kun is here because he is going to be your new sensei," Sarutobi said, his pipe in his mouth. Both Naruto's and Jiraiya's mouths dropped open.

"I'M NOT GOING TO TEACH THAT GAKI!"

"THAT PERVERT ISN'T GOING TO TEACH ME!" Sarutobi chuckled.

"Now, now, boys. Naruto is in need of a teacher, and Jiraiya is in need of a student. Don't you see how perfectly this all works out?" Blue eyes narrowed at the wrinkly, smiling old man.

"Why do you always give me perverted teachers!?"

"Now, now, Naruto, I give you the best teachers," admonished the old man. "They just happen to be a teensy little bit perverted. It's all coincidence, I assure you."

"'_A little bit perverted?' _Kakashi-sensei always has his face in a porn book, the closet pervert passed out from a nose bleed 'cuz he looked at a naked woman, and now this pervert was peeping at women in the onsen and then had the audacity to ask what he did wrong. YOU CALL THAT A LITTLE BIT?!?" screeched the blonde.

"Gaki, you should be grateful if someone like me even _considers_ teaching you. For one, you have horrible manners; somebody should've taught you better. Number two, you have horrible chakra control if your records have anything to go by. Not to mention the fact that you're loud, obnoxious, have a hideous dress code, and would probably be dead if it weren't for the little promise that you have," sneered Jiraiya. "And why wouldn't you want to teach me? I'm one of the legendary Sannin!"

"I don't care who you are! You haven't proved anything to me, and I won't allow you to teach me based on your so-called status! Ebisu-hentai is supposed to be an elite jounin, but he wasn't able to defeat my jutsu!" Sarutobi's eyes widened and he choked a little on his pipe. Did Naruto just make a smart statement? Jiraiya's jaw fell to the floor and his eyes widened in astonishment. How dare this gaki question his abilities!!

"Why you—!" Jiraiya got up and was about to charge at Naruto when his former sensei stopped him.

"Now, now, Jiraiya-kun, Naruto-kun has a point. He has not seen you in action, so he is not aware of what you're capable of. Therefore, I have a proposition for both of you," suggested the old man. This caused the two other males in the room to stop in their tracks.

"What are you on, old man?" demanded Naruto, his eyes narrowed.

"What kind of proposition, Sarutobi-sensei?" Jiraiya would be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued or a little scared. He didn't like the glint that was in his teacher's eyes.

"I'm pretty sure you've already heard that Orochimaru is back, ne Jiraiya?" Before the pervert could speak, Naruto interrupted.

"Hey, isn't he that fruitcake we ran into in the forest of death!?" the blonde questioned. Jiraiya's eyes widened.

"You've met Orochimaru!?"

"Naruto and his teammates had a little run-in with him. I have a feeling that Orochimaru is planning something, therefore you will go search for Tsunade and take Naruto with you," said Sarutobi before Naruto could reply. Jiraiya chuckled.

"Do you honestly think we'll be able to find Tsunade in time for the Chuunin Exams? And what makes you so sure she's going to come back? She cut all ties with Konoha." Sarutobi smiled.

"That is why you'll be leaving immediately. You have one month to find her, and convince her to come back. I'm sure she'd wish to have a... chat... with a certain former teammate of hers that liked to play with snakes. And also, teach Naruto of his heritage. He has a right to know." The white-haired pervert sighed before grabbing a confused Naruto and disappearing from the office.

* * *

"Let me go, you pervert!" Naruto protested, attempting to loosen the older man's grip from his arm. He was definitely stronger than he looked. 

"Listen to me, gaki. We have only one month to search for Tsunade-hime. So, we are going to go to your apartment right now, you are going to pack your shit, and we are going to leave. Understand?" Jiraiya asked, still pulling Naruto's arm.

"How do you know where I live? Have you been stalking me?" Jiraiya smacked his head.

"Why did Sarutobi-sensei force me to teach an idiot?" he whined.

"Hey! I'm not an idiot!"

"Whatever, kid." The duo eventually made it to Naruto's apartment, and they made their way upstairs to the second floor. The apartment building was worn down, and had a foul odor. Jiraiya couldn't help but pity the blonde.

'_From what Sarutobi-sensei told me, Naruto likes to eat Ramen a lot. I bet he has loads of ramen cups on the floor. And his room is probably a mess,' _thought Jiraiya. He let go of Naruto's arm, and the blonde went fishing in his pockets, trying to find his key. When he did find it, he unlocked the door and hurried inside. Jiraiya followed him and his eyebrows shot above his hairline.

'_Oh... my... god...'_

Naruto's apartment was not at all like Jiraiya had pictured it to be. There were no ramen cups littering the floor; the apartment was actually very clean. On the walls, there were pictures of what he assumed was his team. On closer inspection, he gathered that an Uchiha was on his team and Hatake Kakashi was the squad leader.

'_Perhaps that is why Orochimaru came back. To get the last Uchiha and use that valuable Sharingan. And perhaps that is why Kakashi wasn't able to teach Naruto,' _pondered the pervert. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice that Naruto was already packed and looking at him funny.

"Um, Ero-Sennin, are you ready?"

"_**ERO-SENNIN**_!? YOU LITTLE BRAT!!" Jiraiya yelled, appalled at the nickname. Naruto laughed boisterously.

"That's what you are, _Ero-Sennin_. Are you ready to leave? We only have a month to find this Tsunade chick, and I am hungry," complained the blonde.

* * *

After traveling for what seemed like forever, Jiraiya finally allowed them to rest. They made a fire, caught some fish, and started to roast their meal. 

"Alright gaki, pay attention because I am only going to be explaining this once," said Jiraiya, his tone completely serious and his expression one of indifference. Naruto only nodded; even he knew when not to joke around.

"Fine."

"Great, you do know how to listen," muttered Jiraiya. The white-haired man looked around, searching for people that may have decided to follow them. When he didn't see anybody, he made sure there was nobody masking their chakra.

"Alright kid, before I tell you anything, I need to know something. Do you know who your parents are? Did anybody ever tell you anything?"

Naruto stiffened and swallowed hard.

"_Excuse me?" a small voice asked. The worker at the orphanage smiled and turned around, his smile quickly becoming a sneer as he saw who spoke. _

"_What do you want, you demon?" snarled the man. Naruto gulped and shook a little. _

"_Um, well, I w-was just wondering… i-if you knew w-what h-happened to my p-parents," stuttered the small, malnourished blonde. The worker looked at him with a twisted smile all over his face._

"_Your mom killed herself after she found out that she helped bring a monster into this world and your dad followed her." Naruto gasped in shock, his 4-year-old mind trying to process what this man just told him._

"_No! They wouldn't!! My parents loved me!!" The blonde protested, earning a sharp slap. Naruto fell to the floor, his cheek stinging._

"_No, they didn't! Nobody will ever love you, so just stop trying you pathetic waste!!" The man kicked Naruto for good measure before leaving. The blonde rolled himself into a ball and his body shook with silent sobs. _

"Naruto!" The blonde snapped his head towards Jiraiya, who was waving his hand back and forth.

"Huh? What is it?"

"Idiot, I asked you if anybody told you anything about who your parents are," stated Jiraiya, taking the fish off the fire and handing Naruto a stick with three on them.

"Oh. No, nobody told me anything," lied the blonde. Jiraiya looked at him suspiciously.

"Right. So, who do you want to know about first?"

"What do you mean?" Jiraiya gave an exasperated sigh.

"Your parents! Which one of them do you want to know about first?"

"You knew my parents?" asked Naruto, his face one of shock and his voice one of disbelief and hope. Jiraiya ignored the sympathy and agitation he felt.

"Yes. I knew both of your parents. I'll just tell you how. No interrupting, or I won't say it again, you got that?" Naruto nodded his head vigorously before tossing away his uneaten fish.

"Ok."

"It all started when sensei made me take on a genin team," started Jiraiya.

"_Why do I have to have a genin team!? Why not Orochimaru-teme or Tsunade-hime?" whined a young Jiraiya. His sensei, Sarutobi, chuckled. _

"_Because Tsunade works at the hospital and Orochimaru is always on a mission. You, however, just sit around and laze away."_

"_I don't laze away! I'm doing research!!" _

"_I don't care! You have to take on a genin team! Besides, if you don't, Tsunade threatened to castrate both of us. I'd rather not spend the rest of my life being a eunuch. You?" Jiraiya paled at the threat. _

"_So, when do the brats get here?"_

Naruto bit his lip to keep his chuckles and snickers inside. He was really starting to like this woman; she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders and knew how to handle the 'super pervert'.

"So, I took on your father's genin team. They were all a little rough along the edges at first, but soon grew to be elite ninja. Especially your father. His skills were known in all countries and he was feared widely. Pretty soon, he grew very arrogant. His ego was huge, and the villagers being the suck-ups they are just accepted that and praised him even more. Except this one kunoichi.

"Arashi-kun, which is your father's name by the way, was drawn to her. Of course, Hikaru-chan, who was your mother, would turn him down every single time he asked her out. She told him that she'd never date somebody as arrogant as he was. Needless to say, your father quickly corrected his attitude. He kept asking her until she finally gave in. When they were going out for about half a year, Sarutobi-sensei decided to retire and he named your father his successor.

"Arashi-kun was pronounced the Yondaime Hokage after two months. Then, he married your mother, and pretty soon they got jiggy with it. You were born months later, and that's when the Kyuubi attacked the village. Your father wouldn't ask for somebody to sacrifice their child without sacrificing his first. Your mother was immediately sent to the front line after having you. She fought long and hard, but was eventually brought down. Your father sealed the Kyuubi in you, and soon Arashi-kun died. While the villagers had no idea you were the son of the Yondaime and his wife, they do know that you are the container for the Kyuubi, and that is enough reason for them to hate you." Jiraiya drank from his canteen, finally finished with his long speech. Naruto's eyes were impossibly wide.

"Y-you mean that my dad was t-the Yondaime?" Naruto quietly asked. Jiraiya nodded his head. "That's a bit of a shock. I thought my father would be a villager or something." Jiraiya threw his head back and laughed.

"Your father was the last of the Kazama clan, and your mother was the last of the Uzumaki clan. Both were notoriously secret about their techniques, and not many knew there was an Uzumaki or Kazama clan. But, there is and you, being the last of both, have to know how to awaken your bloodline limits and also how to practice their jutsu. Oh, and let's not forget how to dress and act. Why are you wearing that? I'm surprised you lasted this long," commented Jiraiya, looking at the orange jumpsuit in obvious distaste.

"Hey! This was the only thing the villagers would sell me! And besides, since I lasted this long with these clothes, doesn't that just prove how much of an excellent ninja I am?" Naruto retorted. Jiraiya blinked.

"No, it just emphasizes how much of an idiot you are. But, whatever. Now, I am going to show you how to perform one of your father's techniques. He came up with them himself. There are three steps to doing this. The technique is called 'Rasengan'. First, you have a water balloon. You have to use your chakra and pop it. I'll explain the other two steps when you get to it," Jiraiya said. Naruto watched as Jiraiya pull out a scroll, open it, wipe some blood on it, and perform various hand seals before slamming his hand into the ground. A water balloon appeared, and it was tossed to the blonde.

"How did you do that?" Naruto asked incredulously. The white-haired pervert smirked.

"I have everything we need for this trip sealed in these scrolls," Jiraiya told him, showing him a pouch full of scrolls. "Now shut up and try to pop it."

"Um, why don't you give a demonstration first?" Naruto suggested, tossing the water balloon back to the pervert. Jiraiya rolled his eyes before lightly grasping the water balloon in his hand. Naruto watched as the surface started to roughen before it popped, water splashing everywhere.

"Got it? Now try it. We have to get going now, so can do this on the road." Naruto nodded and they cleaned up the camp site, erasing all evidence of their ever being there. As they were walking, Jiraiya heard a pop and felt water wet his sleeve. He looked at Naruto to see him holding the broken balloon, and smirking at him.

"What's the next step, Ero-Sennin?" The white-haired super pervert allowed his knuckles to get acquainted with Naruto's head before summoning another water balloon.

"Do it again," he commanded. Naruto glared at him, rubbed his head, and grasped the water balloon again. He concentrated, and soon the water balloon popped. "How did you learn to do it so fast?"

"Well, I watched what you were doing. I saw how the water balloon went all rough before it popped. So, I figured you were somehow moving the water in every direction inside the balloon, and I did just that," explained the blonde.

"But, the academy reports said you were dead last! How did you ever manage to figure that out so quickly?" Naruto chuckled.

"Don't believe everything you hear or what somebody tells you. Just because I acted like an idiot doesn't mean that I really am one. And besides, I gotta make my parents proud, ya know?" Jiraiya grinned and ruffled Naruto's hair.

"I still don't believe it was an act."

"Hey!"

* * *

Naruto panted heavily. He was trying to complete the second step, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded. The rubber ball was much harder, and he wasn't all that good at chakra control. He laid down on the soft soil, and looked around. Jiraiya was probably at an onsen, peeping at women for 'research'. The duo stopped at a village and while Jiraiya was looking for Tsunade and conducting his oh-so precious research, Naruto was training hard. The blonde stood up, and grasped the rubber ball again. He allowed his chakra to come forth, and he concentrated on popping the ball. When he found that it wasn't working, he put more chakra. The rubber ball popped, and Naruto fell to his knees. 

"Yes, one more step to go," the blonde breathed. He got up and made his way back to the village. Jiraiya told him that when he figured out how to pop the ball, to meet him at 'Flo's Bar and Restaurant'. Naruto saw the place and walked in. He immediately spotted the super pervert, and walked over to the table he was seated at. As he got closer, he noticed that there were two women and a pig.

One of the women was a busty blonde. Her brown eyes were narrowed at the pervert, and her fist was twitching. The other woman had on a worried look. She had short black hair and was holding the pig. Naruto reached the table, and Jiraiya scooted over automatically. Naruto plopped down and banged his head, throwing the popped rubber ball at the pervert.

"Finally popped it, eh? Not bad, you completed this part faster than most would," complimented Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya, who is this brat?" the blonde woman asked, her eyes narrowing even further.

"This brat is my new pupil."

"That's odd, I didn't know you took on another student," murmured the woman.

"Ero-Sennin, is that her?" groaned Naruto. His body ached a little, and he was tired.

"Yup! Naruto, meet Tsunade. Tsunade, meet Kazama Uzumaki Naruto." Jiraiya smirked as Tsunade gaped at the shorter blonde. Naruto looked at him curiously. "That's your full name, gaki." Naruto nodded in understanding.

"Don't call me that, Ero-Sennin," muttered the short blonde.

"Wait a minute!! Are you telling me that this is the spawn of Kazama Arashi and Uzumaki Hikaru!?" Tsunade asked in whisper. Jiraiya nodded.

"I know he doesn't look like much, but he really is. I've only recently started teaching him his family's customs and jutsus, and he's already got most of it down pact. Of course, he's still an idiot, but he's not as bad as he was in the academy," explained the pervert. Naruto glared at his new sensei.

"When are you going to start teaching me the last step? I have to finish my training and now that you found this lady, I only have three weeks left. And did you forget who my opponent is!?"

"I was never told who your opponent was. Who is it?" Jiraiya asked curiously.

"I go up against Sabaku no Gaara," muttered the blonde. Jiraiya, who was taking a sip of sake, spit out his drink all over Tsunade, who wasted no time in punching him upside the head.

"THAT'S DISGUSTING, YOU CREEP!" shouted the busty blonde.

"Did you say Sabaku no Gaara?" Jiraiya asked Naruto, ignoring Tsunade and pissing her off even more.

"Yeah, why?" Jiraiya put down his drink and stood up, pushed Naruto out of the booth, and proceeded to drag him towards the entrance.

"Sabaku no Gaara is a very dangerous opponent. If you want to survive at all, your training from here on out is going to increase. We'll first start with buying you weights and we'll take it from there. When you're done mastering your family's taijutsu style, both the Uzumaki's and the Kazama's, we will focus on mastering all of their jutsu. When you are finished with all of that, then you may continue to try to master the Rasengan," Jiraiya explained. He looked over his shoulder, and motioned Tsunade to follow him. The woman glared at him, but did as he asked. They were also trailed by the dark-haired woman.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked gruffly, her eyes narrowed.

"We need you to teach Naruto here some medical jutsu and you also need to teach him how to punch the way you do," Jiraiya told her flatly.

"What? No way!"

"Come on, Tsunade-hime, you owe it to him! You're his godmother for crying out loud!" Naruto, who was walking ahead, tripped on a rock and fell flat on his face.

"She's my what?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Your godmother. Arashi-kun and Hikaru-chan decided she was to be your godmother while your mom was still seven months pregnant of you," Jiraiya explained, edging away from the glaring and twitching Tsunade.

"Shut up! He didn't need to know that!" Tsunade screeched, and the white-haired man hid behind Naruto.

'_Wow, she screams like a banshee,'_ thought Naruto.

"You know damn well he did! Now, are you going to teach him or not?"

"My answer is still no!" Tsunade said. She heard a sniffle and turned to Naruto. The shorter blonde had tears in his eyes, and his lower lip was trembling. Tsunade felt her resolve crack a bit.

"Why won't you train me, daibo-chan? (1)" he asked quietly. Tsunade gulped inaudibly.

"I—I—"

"Is it because you don't like me?" Naruto asked, bowing his head and allowing a small sob to escape his lips. Of course, while his head was down nobody could see the smirk on his lips.

"I—grr! Find, I'll train you, god damnit! Just stop crying!" Tsunade yelled, giving into the adorable blonde. Naruto immediately looked at her brightly and glomped her.

"Yay! Daibo-chan is going to train me!" he wailed happily. Tsunade looked at him funnily and Jiraiya was giggling behind his hand. The older woman played right into the sneaky blonde's trap.

"Come," demanded Jiraiya. "We'll start your training now."

A/N: Like it? Reviews would be nice.

(1) Daibo-chan should mean godmother. I used an online dictionary so I'm not 100 sure.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Battle of the Jinchuuriki

Author: Rokudaime Kunoichi

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Set after preliminary round. Naruto doesn't fight Neji. Instead, he fights Gaara!! What secrets will be revealed? Light SasuNaru.

Warnings: Light Angst, OOC-ness, Drama, _**Child Abuse**_, shounen-ai, etc.

Disclaimer: **Naruto and co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended. No profit is made from the making of this story.**

A/N: Hello! I hope everybody likes this new chapter. I'd like to thank my friend, Camri, who has kindly decided to look over my work and correct any errors. And now I present to you the next installment of _Battle_ _of the Jinchuuriki_. Reviews are appreciated and welcome. **Again, yes, I know Naruto's parents real names. Thanks to all the people that asked me that. There are people who don't read ahead and decide to just wait until the TV show comes on, and I don't want to spoil it for them. Last thing: I won't be updating again for about a week, mainly because I only had the first three chapters of this pre-written. Now, I'm working on chapter four and five. **

Chapter 3

"Again," commanded Jiraiya, his eyes hard and his expression one of indifference. Naruto shakily stood up before charging at his teacher. Jiraiya blocked most of Naruto's punches and was able to push him to the ground with two fingers. The blonde landed with a cry, and dust filled the air as his body was slammed into the dirt. Tsunade flinched slightly, but knew that this training will most definitely benefit her godson. Besides, she would have to be even harder on him if he ever wished to learn how to punch the way she does.

"You're not trying hard enough, and you are easily distracted," Jiraiya said coldly. "You fell into the same trap twice already." The dust cleared and he saw Naruto unconscious on the ground. Sighing, the sannin walked over to his pupil. As he reached down to pick him up, the Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. His, along with Tsunade and her assistant Shizune's, eyes widened. Jiraiya cautiously looked around, trying to find where his pupil had gone. He felt a presence behind him and turned around to block the kick that was aimed at his head. Naruto grinned before turning into smoke. As if on cue, fifteen Naruto's started appearing from all over the place and proceeded to attack the white-haired pervert.

"Kami-sama," breathed Tsunade.

"How can he make so many clones? Not even most jounin have that much chakra!" exclaimed Shizune.

"You forget that Naruto is the container for Kyuubi no Kitsune. The way the seal that keeps Kyuubi locked up works is that its life is tied to Naruto's. If Naruto dies, so does Kyuubi. That's probably why the demon has been healing Naruto all these years."

"Why would he need to be healed constantly? He's only just a genin," said Shizune, looking at Tsunade curiously. She watched as her sensei's eyes hardened.

"Last night, Jiraiya and I had a little talk about Naruto and the villagers."

"_Here, have some sake. You're going to need it," murmured Jiraiya as he poured a cup for his old teammate. Tsunade cocked an eyebrow and took a sip._

"_And why is that?"_

"_I figured since you were gone from Konoha for so long, you might want an update. Maybe you'd like to know how the villagers treated your godson?"_

"_They probably treated him like a hero. Wasn't that Arashi-kun's wish? Surely they wouldn't dare disobey their Yondaime-sama," sneered Tsunade. It was pathetic the way they worshiped Arashi, as if he were a god. The fool wasn't even that good—he managed to get himself killed, didn't he? She took another sip of the sake, relishing in the taste and the way it burned her throat as she swallowed it. _

"_That's what I thought. Until Sarutobi-sensei set the record straight for me," Jiraiya said coldly. Tsunade nearly chocked on her sake. She never heard Jiraiya speak in that tone of voice, and with such hatred. _

"_What do you mean?" the busty blonde asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the answer._

"_What I mean is that they hated Naruto. Nobody wanted to take in the monster that killed their precious Yondaime. By the time Naruto-kun was four, there have been over twenty assassination attempts. The orphanage kicked him out when he was six, and Naruto had to fend for himself. Only some of the council members honor Arashi-kun's final request. Sarutobi-sensei said Naruto almost died fifteen times from the beatings the villagers are always giving him," Jiraiya said solemnly. Tsunade's eyes were wide as saucers, and her hand shakily reached up to brush away a tear that made its way down her face. _

"_Are you telling me that the villagers have been abusing my godson?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet. Jiraiya nodded. The busty blonde took a deep breath, and let it out. Her whole body was quivering, her eyes narrowed, and her fists were clenched to the point of drawing blood. Jiraiya realized that Tsunade was having a tough time reigning in her anger, so he transported them to a forest. Tsunade screamed, punching and kicking at anything in her path. More tears streamed down her cheeks, and her attacks on a poor and helpless tree got more and more violent. When she was finished with her little tantrum, she sunk to her knees and wept in her hands. _

"_He was just a boy. He still is a little boy. How can anybody be so cruel? Why?" she croaked. _

"_I don't have that answer for you," muttered Jiraiya, his eyes burning with such hatred that Gai and Lee would've been jealous for his "passionate flame of youth". _

"_And just what the hell makes them think that I'll go and help them? Why the fuck should I waste my time on a village like that?" growled Tsunade. _

"_Naruto loves that village. He'd do anything in his power to make you go. And besides, the villagers only know that he is the container for Kyuubi. They have no idea that he's the son of their oh so precious Yondaime." Tsunade took a deep breath, and composed herself. Standing up, she motioned Jiraiya to follow her. They walked back to the bar they once occupied, Jiraiya having not transported them far, and Tsunade resumed her drinking. _

"_Naruto is too innocent; naïve. I want to preserve that innocence," mumbled Tsunade. _

"_You won't do it if you attempt to keep him away from being a ninja. He loves his job, and he will hate you if you try to take away from him the thing he loves," warned Jiraiya._

"_I know," sighed Tsunade. "Which is why I'll teach him how to be a great ninja, and I'll return to the village."_

"How awful," muttered Shizune. "They actually tried to kill Naruto-chan? How does he manage to seem so carefree and innocent?"

"I don't know. Naruto has a very big heart. He wants to be Hokage one day, and I intend to help him get there."

* * *

"Halt!" commanded the guards at the entrance to Konoha. "State your name and business." 

"Step aside, you imbeciles!" growled Tsunade. The guards recognized her immediately and moved out of the way.

"Tsunade-hime, Jiraiya-sama, you're back! We weren't expecting you until next week!" they exclaimed.

"Whatever, just move! We have to speak to the Hokage!" Tsunade snapped, agitated.

"Yes, of course. Step this way!" The guards smiled at the two Sannin, and Shizune. When they looked at Naruto, however, their kind demeanor all but vanished. "You demon, how dare you come back to this village!" As soon as Tsunade heard the word demon, she whipped around and glared furiously at the guards.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL MY GODSON A DEMON!! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" she screeched. The busty blonde would have killed the two guards, who were now sporting very large wet spots at the front of their pants, if Jiraiya hadn't interfered.

"Calm down, Tsunade-hime. With you this angry, you may give away Naruto's true parentage, and put him in danger. Believe me, I want a piece of the villagers as well. But we can't do anything to them. Not now, at least," Jiraiya whispered in her ear. Tsunade calmed down enough, but was still glaring at the cowering guards.

"The next person who calls Naruto-kun a 'demon', 'monster', or any other degrading name, and I will personally deal with them. I'm sure Ibiki and Anko would love to help me," Tsunade hissed, smirking in satisfaction as the two men whimpered and nodded their heads frantically. Naruto, who was quiet during the whole exchange, placed his hand on Tsunade's shoulder.

"Come on, Tsunade-daibo, let's go see the old man," murmured the short blonde. Tsunade nodded her head, and soon all of them were once again traveling towards their destination.

* * *

If anybody told Sarutobi that Uzumaki Naruto, the loudest boy in on the face of Kami-sama's good green earth, would change in under a month, he would've laughed in their face and gave them to Ibiki and Anko to play with. Now, however, staring at the new Naruto with his mouth open like an idiot, the old man had to reevaluate his opinion. Instead of the loud, orange jumpsuit, Naruto wore a fishnet shirt with a vest over it. Adoring his hands were fingerless gloves, he had some black wrist and ankle bands, and he wore the customary black shinobi sandals. He still wore his hitai-ate on his forehead, and his blonde hair was as spiky as ever (In fact, if it weren't for the blonde hair, whisker marks, and blue eyes, nobody would recognize Naruto). Lastly, the blonde had on some form-fitting black shorts. His weapon pouch was on his right thigh, and he had another pouch around his waist. 

"Naruto-kun, you look..." stuttered Sarutobi.

"Different?" the blonde supplied, a foxy grin on his face. "I know. I think I like this style of dressing more than my last outfit, ne?" Sarutobi heard two snorts and a giggle coming from behind the blonde, and turned to see Tsunade, Jiraiya, and a black-haired female he didn't recognize.

"Jiraiya-kun, Tsunade-hime, good to see you. May I ask who you are, my dear?" Sarutobi greeted, indicating the last question toward Shizune.

"She's my apprentice, Shizune," Tsunade said. "It's been a while sensei. I heard you're having some snake problems."

"Very lovely to meet you, Shizune. And yes, we are having a bit of snake trouble. I have a feeling he is planning something. That is, of course, why I called you back. Plus, wouldn't you like to spend time with your godson?" Tsunade glared at him.

"This village is lucky that he is the only reason I came back. That, and the fact that I hate Orochimaru. Otherwise, I would have left them to deal with it." Sarutobi gave her a grim smile.

"Naruto-kun, would you mind going to catch up on what your teammates and friends are doing? I need to—"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," interrupted Naruto. He grinned and said, "I'll be at Ichiraku's when you're all done here." The old man smiled gratefully at his back, and watched the youth leave.

"Now, I have a plan on how to get rid of this snake problem..."

* * *

Haruno Sakura was surprised when a familiar blonde stepped into Ichiraku's. The boy looked an awful lot like Naruto, but it couldn't be him! Naruto wore this hideous orange jumpsuit, and he was obnoxiously loud. She heard the boy quietly order ten bowls of miso ramen, and quickly concluded that the boy was indeed the other member of Team Seven. Nobody else had that big of an appetite to eat ten bowls of ramen in one sitting. 

"Naruto-kun, is that you?" the owner of Ichiraku's asked, his voice incredulous.

"Yup! Long time no see Amou-san," replied the blonde, stopping to slowly slurp up his food.

"I see you figured out that orange wasn't a good choice," Amou teased, chuckling. Naruto laughed.

"Actually, my godmother burned all of my clothes. She and my new sensei said, 'It's a miracle you don't get killed on a mission or turn someone blind with your fashion sense!'" The blonde said, mimicking Tsunade.

"Damn straight!" roared a new voice, and Sakura discreetly turned her head to see who spoke. It was a blonde woman, and she glared at her teammate.

"Hey Tsunade-daibo, how's it going?" Naruto asked, grinning from ear to ear. Sakura's eyes widened a little. Tsunade as in the legendary Tsunade?

"Hey Naruto, don't you have some training to do?" a white-haired man said, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Let me eat a little, Ero-Sannin. Jeez," complained the blonde. Sakura smiled a little; that's the Naruto everybody knew.

"Come on, Jiraiya. Show me to the hotel room. I'm tired and need my sleep," Tsunade commanded. Sakura strained to hear his reply, but could've swore he said something like, _'Fuck yeah, you do'_. As soon as the two left, Sakura walked over to the blonde and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Sakura-chan! How're you?" Naruto asked, his eyes bright as he smiled. The pink-haired girl couldn't help but smile back and pulled up the chair that was next to her teammate.

"I'm fine. You sure changed a lot, Naruto," Sakura cheerfully responded.

"Yeah, I know. How's everything been in the village?"

"Everything's going great. Sasuke-kun is being trained by Kakashi-sensei, and I've been training with Gai and visiting Lee in the hospital," the pink-haired kunoichi said, blushing when she mentioned the green spandex wearing shinobi. Naruto couldn't help the sly grin that started to dance across his face.

"I see something else happened when I was gone," he teased. Sakura mock-glared at him and lightly slapped him on the arm.

"Anyways," she said, "how about we have a barbeque? And we could invite everybody!" Naruto looked at her warily; he didn't like the glint that appeared in her eye.

"Define everybody," he muttered.

"The Rookie Nine, and Gai-sensei's team. The final part of the Chuunin Exam doesn't start until five days from now. We could have the barbeque tonight and we could celebrate you ridding yourself of that horrid jumpsuit."

"Hey! That was quite fashionable, if you must know," Naruto protested.

"Oh really? Where? Land of the Dweebs?" Sakura snorted. Naruto clutched his heart and pouted.

"You're so mean. How could you?" The pink-haired girl laughed.

"I thought even you knew how to insult a person. Maybe I overestimated your thinking abilities," she teased. "All joking aside, we have to get ready for the barbeque!! I'll hand out the invitations. Now, where should we have it?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's ask my godmother. She ought to know."

"Oh," Sakura said, "that reminds me. Who is your godmother?" Naruto grinned.

"My godmother's name is Tsunade. She's really old but she uses genjutsu so you really wouldn't be able to tell. Plus, she gets drunk and likes to gamble a lot."

"YOU LITTLE GAKI!" The blonde turned around to see his godmother glaring furiously at him.

"What? You are! And when did you get here?"

"Five minutes ago; maybe if you weren't talking to your girlfriend, you would've noticed," Tsunade said, smirking when she saw the two blush.

"She's not my girlfriend! She's going out with Fuzzy Brows!" Naruto shouted. Sakura glared at him and punched him across the head—hard.

"Don't call Lee-kun that!"

"Itai," groaned the blonde, clutching his head.

"Good for you, gaki. Now, what were you saying about a barbeque?" Sakura's eyes lit up and she started to tell Tsunade her idea.

* * *

Naruto huffed and puffed. Why did he have to carry the heavy bags? Oh, yeah. 'Cuz the pervert ditched him! Both of them had been assigned by Tsunade to go pick up the beverages, and as soon as Jiraiya saw a busty brunette walk by, he put his bags on the floor and left, giggling all the while. Naruto groaned tiredly and continued to walk up the grassy hill. Why the hell did Tsunade have to choose to have the damn barbeque on the top of a fucking hill!? Grr!! When the blonde reached the top, he cried out in relief. 

'Just a little more to go. Almost there,' thought the blonde. Upon seeing the house where the barbeque was to take place, he practically ran in and put the bags on the table. This house belonged to Tsunade, willed to her when her grandfather, the Shodaime, died. Naruto walked through the door leading to the background and nearly staggered. The backyard had been a mess when he came, nobody having lived in the house to take care of it. Now, however, the lawn was cut, weeds were pulled, tables and chairs set up, and everything they'd need for the barbeque.

"Gaki, where'd the pervert go?" Tsunade asked from behind him.

"Last I saw him he was chasing after some busty chick," replied Naruto, stretching. As he stretched, his shirt rode up a little and he yelped as the cool air hit his heated belly. Tsunade laughed at Naruto before ruffling his hair.

"Come on, we have to get all of this ready by 6:00 and it's already 4:00." The shorter blonde groaned before following his godmother inside. They had a lot to get done.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke growled. Why the fuck did the damn barbeque have to be at the top of a fucking hill!? Why did he bother to come anyway? Oh yeah. Sakura blackmailed him! Not that he'd ever admit it. The pink-haired kunoichi just absentmindedly commented on how she was going to tell a certain blonde about his crush on said blonde. He wanted to pull his hair out; why the hell did he tell her in the first place? Oh yeah, he didn't. She figured it out all on her own and smirked at his futile attempts to deny it. 

'Stupid nosy-body. Why the hell couldn't she just remain a fangirl?' he sullenly thought. Pretty soon, he did make it to the top of the hill. Walking to the rather large house, he knocked on the door. It was opened by an excited Sakura.

"Glad you could come," she squealed, giving him a quick hug. He didn't bother returning it, and Sakura no longer cared.

"It's not like I had a choice," grumbled Sasuke, his displeasure at being blackmailed shining in his eyes.

"Oh, well, you'll get over it. Now, come on. Everybody is already here!" Sakura grabbed his hand and led him inside of the house. Everybody was obviously outside, seeing as how the noise was outside and there was smoke coming from the backyard. Sasuke walked over to an empty chair and sat down. He nodded his head in greeting towards Shikamaru and Chouji, who were also sitting.

"Didn't expect to see you here," Shikamaru said lazily. His head was down, and his eyes were closed. "Mendokuse (1)."

"Hn. Didn't expect to see you here either; thought you'd be too tired to get out of bed." Shikamaru smirked and Chouji chuckled.

"I'm lazy, not stupid. If I didn't show, Sakura and Ino would've just came to my house and be even more troublesome."

"Hey, guys!" a cheery voice said. Sasuke turned and if he weren't so composed, his draw would've dropped. There stood Naruto, looking nothing like he had barely a month ago. Sasuke cursed under his breath. Sakura could've at least warned him that Naruto had cleaned up and looked good enough to eat. His eyes briefly caught her green ones, and she smirked as he glared at her.

"Oi, teme! What's your problem!? I said 'hi'!" Naruto huffed, his hands going to his hips as he fixed his rival/best friend with a glare. Sasuke couldn't suppress the smirk that appeared on his face.

"Hn. I didn't recognize you without all the orange. You look like a girl when you do that," Sasuke casually said, his eyes sparkling when he got the desired effect.

"TEME! I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A GIRL!" Naruto screeched. His face turned red, his fists were clenched at his sides, and his blue eyes were narrowed. Sasuke allowed a small chuckled to escape.

"Whatever you say, dobe." Naruto looked like he was about to comment but Sakura appeared.

"Um, anybody hungry?" she asked. "We've got ramen, Naruto." The blonde squealed and ran off to go get some.

"Like I said, a girl," muttered Sasuke before he, too, got up to get something to eat.

A/N: **This chapter has been slightly edited. **Hope everybody liked this chapter. I momentarily had no idea how to start this chapter, but the idea just hit me. Also, the fight between Naruto and Gaara should happen soon. I'm not sure how soon, since I don't have this written down on paper, but I know it'll be soon. Probably in either chapter four or chapter five. As always, reviews are welcome and appreciated. **Reminder: I will not be updating for a week. Sorry. And if anybody finds any mistakes, please let me know so that I can find my beta and throttle her. -innocent smile-**

(1) Mendokuse should mean troublesome. I'm not sure. If it's wrong, please inform me and I'll fix it.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Battle of the Jinchuuriki

Author: Rokudaime Kunoichi

Rated: T

Genre: Romance/Friendship

Summary: Set after preliminary round. Naruto doesn't fight Neji. Instead, he fights Gaara!! What secrets will be revealed? Light SasuNaru.

Warnings: Light Angst, OOC-ness, Drama, _**Child Abuse**_, shounen-ai, etc.

Disclaimer: Naruto and co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended. No profit is made from the making of this story.

A/N: I hope everybody likes my story thus far. I'd like to thank **Ichihime** for pointing out some things to me that I missed. An example would be: Lee still in the hospital because Gaara attempted to kill him. O.O I am so sorry!! I completely forgot about that. I went back and corrected it. Thanks a bunch for pointing it out. Gosh, I feel like such an idiot, LOL. Anyways, hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 4

Naruto gave a happy sigh. He was eating the most wonderful thing in the world: homemade miso ramen. His mouth watered at the thought of it, and the blonde continued to slurp up noodles. He didn't make a mess, however, since Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Shizune had all attempted to teach him manners. Sasuke sat down next to him and was eating a very tasty looking rib and some rice. The blonde took this time to evaluate his best friend.

Sasuke had gotten rid of the blue shirt and shorts that made him look like a school boy. Now, he was wearing a form-fitting black jumpsuit that showed the beginnings of a six pack with bandages covering his arms and legs. His hair was a little bit longer, framing his face and contrasting with his pale complexion. He still wore the black ninja sandals, and his hitai-ate stayed on his forehead. For some reason, Naruto felt the need to drool at the body of his best friend.

"What're you staring at, dobe?" Sasuke asked, bringing Naruto out of his evaluation.

"Huh?"

"I said what are you staring at," Sasuke said slowly, pronouncing each word as if he were talking to a little child. "Dobe."

"Don't call me that, teme," scowled Naruto. "And I was looking at an egotistical, anti-social, arrogant, pompous prick; nothing much, really. Why?" Sasuke glared at the blonde.

"Oh? I was asking because I noticed an idiotic, hyperactive, good-for-nothing, usuratonkachi staring at me and looking like he was gonna jump my person. I was wondering what he wanted." Naruto blushed.

"I was not!" An elegant eyebrow rose.

"Who said I was talking about you? Do you have a guilty conscious, Naru-chan?" Sasuke smirked as he saw the delectable blonde sputter in indignation. "Careful, I don't want your spittle in my food. Who knows what I could catch."

"Why do ya have to be so mean, teme?" Naruto whined. "And don't call me Naru-chan!"

"Who called you Naru-chan?" somebody asked from behind them. The bickering teammates turned to see Kiba and Akamaru.

"Sasu-teme did!" Naruto explained, pointing his finger at the Uchiha guilty of the crime.

"Hey, Sasuke, do you like Naruto?" Kiba asked, smirking when he saw the two flush. "My mom told me when I was little that when a guy likes a girl, he'll make fun of her and pull her pigtails. I didn't realize until just now that it seems like that's what Sasuke's been doing all along." Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other before looking away and blushing.

"Kiba-kun, you shouldn't say things like that," Aburame Shino said as he appeared behind his teammate. "You'll make them uncomfortable." Kiba grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about that," he said unapologetically. Kiba waved goodbye to Naruto and Sasuke before leaving with Shino. There was a long awkward pause. Sasuke busied himself with looking at everybody who was having a good time and Naruto was looking at everything else but Sasuke.

"Hey, teme, you wanna have a spar?" Naruto suggested, trying to cut the tension.

"Sure, if you don't mind a beat down in front of everybody," Sasuke replied cockily.

"Hah! As if," Naruto scoffed. "Come on, we'll have to clear the dance floor." The blonde ran towards Sakura and whispered in her ear. The pink-haired kunoichi nodded her head before ordering the music to be shut off and for everybody to 'get the hell off the dance floor unless they want a few missing body parts'. Needless to say, the dance floor was empty in under a minute. Naruto and Sasuke took their places and got into different stances. The people who were on the dance floor were whining until they saw what exactly was happening. Many grinned at the entertainment, and Lee, who was still on crutches, started to yell excitedly.

"YOSH! LET YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH GUIDE YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH DURING THIS BATTLE!" he screeched, waving a crutch in the air.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT, LEE! ENCOURAGE YOUR COMRADES!" yelled Gai, who wept at how youthful his student was. Before they could get hug or shout anything else, Sakura silenced them and told them that they should observe how youthful Naruto and Sasuke were. "LEE, YOUR GIRLFRIEND IS RIGHT! WE MUST OBSERVE THESE TWO YOUTHFUL SHINOBI!" From where he stood, Naruto rolled his eyes.

'_Just when you thought they couldn't get any weirder,'_ he thought. There was tension in the air as neither Sasuke nor Naruto moved. They stared at each other, calculating in their head what move they should make and trying to predict what move their opponent would do. Now, Naruto was never really patient and no amount of training would make him patient. So, it was to nobody's surprise when the blonde charged at the Uchiha. Sasuke dodged the punch aimed for his head and his eyes widened in surprise. Naruto ended up punching the ground, which was now sporting a rather large dent.

'_Crap. He's gotten stronger. One punch and I'd be history,'_ Sasuke thought, dodging other blows made by the blonde. The session continued with Naruto punching and Sasuke dodging.

"This is pointless," groaned Yamanaka Ino. "They're evenly matched!"

"They're not going all out," Kakashi said, his face in his porn book. Many eyes turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Tenten asked, her brows furrowed. Beside her, Hyuuga Neji scoffed.

"He means that they are merely testing each other's ability; playing, if you will. Neither is willing to show their opponent their strongest moves. That would be most unwise and stupid, especially since the final part of the Chuunin Exam is coming up. The Uchiha still has to fight me, and he won't show any moves since I am right here to observe them. Uzumaki still has to fight Gaara, so he most definitely won't be showing his moves," Neji explained, his face one of indifference and his voice cold.

"Precisely," giggled Kakashi as he flipped a page in his book. "Naruto may seem like an idiot, but don't underestimate him. I do believe you all, as well as Kiba, found out what happened during the preliminary round, ne?" A good majority of them flushed as they recalled what exactly happened.

Sasuke dodged another punch before throwing one of his own. The blonde managed to duck and tried to sweep him off his feet, but Sasuke jumped over the offending leg. He ran through a series of handseals.

"Grand Fireball Technique!" The Uchiha blew fire out of his mouth, watching the fire consume Naruto. When he was done, Naruto was in a crater, his body burned severely and his body unmoving. Sasuke's eyes widened and he froze. Did he kill Naruto? The stupid blonde was supposed to dodge!! Panic gripped at his heart and just when he was going to run over and see if Naruto was okay, he felt a pair of hands grab his ankles and drag him underground until only his head was above the dirt. Looking up, he was instantly blinded by the brightness of his crush's smile.

"Looks like I win, ne?" Naruto teased, grinning almost insanely. Sasuke inwardly let out a sigh of relief.

"I suppose so. That's one out of how many?" Naruto's grin disappeared and he glared at the Uchiha.

"You teme!" screeched the blonde, causing many to laugh.

* * *

"Welcome everyone, to the final part of the Chuunin Exam," Sarutobi said loudly, making sure all could hear him throughout the stadium. The five days passed in a blur and now, the day everybody was waiting oh-so-anxiously for had arrived. "We will begin shortly with our first match: Uzumaki Naruto vs. Sabaku no Gaara. I ask that all contestants not fighting at this time clear the arena for these young genin. Thank you." 

Naruto, while he didn't show it, was a nervous wreck. His stomach kept twisting and turning in knots and he felt like he could throw up. Closing his eyes, Naruto took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. It was okay; he only had to fight for his life. Yup, no pressure. Across from him, his opponent grinned psychotically and licked his lips; no doubt thinking what fun it would be to taste his blood. Why was he allowed to become a ninja?

"Are you ready?" Raidou, the proctor for this part of the exam, asked. When neither gave any indication that they weren't, he began the match. "Hajime!" It was so silent in the stadium that you could hear a strand of hay being bent. Naruto relaxed his body and grabbed out some shuriken. He threw them at the red head, and watched as the sand blocked and consumed the weapons.

'_Okay. Just like with Fuzzy Brows that damned sand of his keeps protecting him. But, Fuzzy Brows was able to hit him by moving too fast for the sand to catch him. I'll have to run at the same speed or higher if I want to get at least a little bit of damage. But first, to test what sort of impact my punch will have,'_ thought Naruto.

The blonde ran towards Gaara and punched him. The sand blocked his move, but not completely. Naruto's hand was right next to the Suna nin's face; centimeter's away in fact, eliciting a look of surprise and shock. The sand attempted to wrap itself around the blonde's hand and break if off when he viciously pulled it away. Naruto ran around Gaara, trying to hit him in various positions. When Naruto did make a hit, Gaara ended up flying a couple feet backwards from the force. The redhead gingerly touched his cheek, wincing ever-so-slightly. His dull green eyes looked at Naruto in accusation.

Putting his hands together, Gaara muttered something the blonde couldn't quite catch. Everybody watched in fascination as copious amounts of sand came pouring out of Gaara's gourd. The sand seemed to have a life of it's own as it crawled its way towards Naruto. The blonde jumped back, but the sand kept following him. Eventually, Naruto's foot got caught and the sand started traveling up his leg. The sand moved even faster when he attempted to form handseals. Pretty soon, Naruto's body from the neck down was covered in sand. He felt himself being raised into the air, and he heard many viewers gasp.

Closing his eyes, Naruto concentrated on what the handseals to the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu were. Performing them in his head, Naruto opened his eyes and felt his chakra create the clones he needed. The sand that was all over his body broke apart and around twenty or so clones appeared. They all got into a fighting stance and began to attack the Suna nin. They kept attacking until the sand crushed the clones, filling the arena with smoke. Gaara glared at Naruto hatefully.

"My mother wants your blood," he stated, and Naruto barely contained a shudder. "I will kill you and prove my existence." The redhead performed a couple seals and soon the sand started to form a barrier around him. "My mother will have your blood." Naruto ran up to the barrier and punched it. A dent occurred, but the barrier did not fall. The blonde had to jump back as the sand tried to attack him.

'_Crap. My punch didn't work, and I'm not as strong as Tsunade-daibo yet. Lemme think. Wait, doesn't sand turn to glass when it's heated up? Oh, thank you for those jutsus, Sasuke!'_ thought Naruto. His hands ran through the seals as he ran to the sand barrier. Sucking in a deep breath, Naruto blew the fire out of his mouth. The sand barrier did not waver, and the jutsu had little effect. _'Kuso! It's not strong enough! I'll have to use otou-san's jutsu.' _

Naruto jumped away from some spikes that wished to turn him into a shish kabob and ran towards one of the walls in the stadium. He climbed the wall, and began concentrating on his jutsu. Naruto began channeling large amounts of chakra to his hand. Soon, the Rasengan was there and getting larger by the minute. When Naruto felt the Rasengan grow as large as it could, he began to compress it. Everybody watched as the massive ball of chakra shrank to the size of a bowling ball. Naruto started to run down the wall. He kept running until he was a couple feet away from the sand shield before he thrust the Rasengan into it.

Sand flew everywhere as the barrier cracked. An inhuman screech was heard, and everyone in the stadium shivered; it sounded like an animal was dying. Naruto ripped his hand away from the remaining sand and jumped away to safety. The sand shield trembled before collapsing completely. The blonde winced as he saw the blood running down his opponent's arm; Gaara got hit with the Rasengan in the shoulder, and was now clutching onto it.

"MY BLOOD! YOU SPILT MY BLOOD!" the redhead yelled, clutching his wound with one hand. "HOW DARE YOU WASTE MY PRECIOUS BLOOD!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" The sand was once again active and coming after Naruto with a vengeance. Naruto kept dodging until he was finally thrown into one of the stadium walls with a loud 'THUD'.

"COME ON NARUTO! YOU CAN BEAT THIS GUY; SHOW HIM WHAT YOU HAVE!!" Sakura yelled from her place in the audience.

"EXACTLY! SHOW HIM THAT YOUR FLAME OF YOUTH IS BRIGHTER THAN HIS!!" Lee screamed, following Sakura's youthful example at encouraging their friend.

Naruto felt dizzy. When he was thrown into that wall, he hit his head rather hard and was currently seeing kunai and shuriken twirling around in a baby mobile's fashion. He hurriedly got up and ran away from the sand, quickly trying to think of a plan. Just when he thought the Suna nin couldn't get any weirder, the redhead clutched his head and started screaming.

'_What the hell is wrong with him?'_ Naruto thought. Gaara screamed even louder, and Naruto gasped as the redhead opened his eyes. The dull green pupils were tiny and moving about rapidly. Sand started to wrap around Gaara's body, mutating him. Eventually, half of Gaara's body took on the form of a tanuki made of sand.

"What's the matter, Uzumaki? Am I too much for you?" taunted the redhead, his voice a lot deeper than it should be. "I will kill you and prove my existence in this world!"

"What the hell are you talking about!? How the hell would killing me prove your existence in this world!?" Naruto yelled back, dodging some more sand.

"It is my purpose to kill every single human being on this world! And I will not lose my purpose!" Gaara yelled. The sand continued to mutate him, this time moving across his chest.

"What would killing everybody in this world prove!? Nothing, that's what!"

"NO! KILLING EVERYBODY IS MY ONLY PURPOSE! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE AWAY THAT PURPOSE FROM ME!!" Gaara clutched his head again and closed his eyes, grumbling incoherently. He was breathing heavily, and Naruto couldn't help but compare him to a person that was having an asthma attack. When the redhead opened his eyes again, they were gazed over and his pupil's were as small as pencil points.

_Four-year-old Gaara clutched the old, worn out bear tightly. He looked around and saw all the other kids playing. They were laughing and running around, and Gaara couldn't help but gaze longingly. He just wanted to be a normal boy. One that could sleep without hearing that awful voice._

_**Aw, I'm hurt. Don't you like me, Gaara-chan?**_

_Go away. I don't want to talk to you. Just leave me alone._

_**But, Gaara-chan, don't you like me anymore? Don't you remember how much fun we had when we killed that girl yesterday? Wasn't her pleads music to your ears?**_

_No! I didn't want to kill that girl! You made me do it. Why did you do that?_

_**Now, now, Gaara-chan, you know that you wanted to do it. Why else would you have fallen asleep? You know what happens when you do that. You wanted me to come out and play.**_

_No, I—_

_**Yes, you did. It's not polite to blame somebody else for something you did. You must learn to take responsibility for your own actions.**_

_Gaara clutched his head and whimpered. The other kids at the playground noticed this and paled before running away, screaming in terror. Gaara noticed this and cried out._

"_No, wait! Please don't go!" His attempt was futile, and he watched with saddened green eyes as he was left all alone once again._

_**But, you're not alone, Gaara-chan. You still have me.**__ Gaara whimpered again as he heard Shukaku cackle evilly. _

Gaara stopped clutching his head, and smiled at Naruto. The blonde merely got into a defensive stance, watching the redhead with careful eyes. Gaara couldn't help it; he let loose the laughter that had been bubbling inside of him. He laughed long and hard, effectively installing fear in everybody's hearts.

"Aw, Uzumaki. Is this your first time fighting a demon?" Naruto's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" Gaara smirked.

"Are you really that slow!? Do you think an ordinary human looks like this!?" Naruto glared at the redhead.

"What do you know about demons?" The blonde growled.

"Heh," chuckled Gaara. "I know a hell of a lot more than you. You see, the reason why I'm like this, is because of that man up there!" The redhead pointed up at the Kage box, and everybody turned to see that he was pointing at the leader of his village; the Kazekage.

"What does he have to do with this?"

"Ever since I was little, my purpose was to protect the village. I was a weapon, a tool for their own usage. My father sealed a demon inside of me, and I killed the very woman who gave me life. The Kazekage, dear otou-san, trained me in the shinobi arts. I was an excellent weapon, killing anything they told me to. He didn't expect for the sand to get out of control. Pretty soon, I was too dangerous to keep around, and they all had to get rid of me. There have been over twenty assassination attempts by the time I was six!" Naruto's blue eyes widened. "That's right, Uzumaki. My own father tried to kill me. And so, I found a new purpose. After all, the very village I was born to protect no longer needed me. Why the hell should I protect it anymore!?"

'_He has a demon sealed in him too? We are... so alike, and yet... so different,'_ Naruto thought.

"_Demon!" Naruto turned towards the voice, only to have a stone thrown at him. The five-year-old gasped in surprise and clutched his wounded and bleeding nose. Tears sprung to his eyes, and he whimpered in pain. The blonde looked up to see at least fifteen villagers. _

"_You're going to pay for what you did," a man growled, a log in his hand. Naruto stood up, only to be kicked down by another villager._

"_That's for killing my wife, you bastard!" It didn't take long for the others to start beating him. Naruto cried out, throwing his hands in front of his face in an attempt to shield himself. The villagers were merciless, ignoring his cries and pleads for them to stop. They only stopped when they noticed angry red chakra start to come forth. The villagers ran away quickly, fearing for their lives. Naruto stood curled in a ball for a full ten minutes before he decided to get up. Pain shot through him, and Naruto whimpered. He had to limp home, and was pushed down on several occasions._

_When Naruto did go home, he limped to the bathroom and pulled out a bunch of band-aids. He did his best to clean out his wounds and wrap his sprained ankle in bandages. As he was putting the stuff away, he looked into the mirror. Naruto stared at his reflection for a full minute before anger and hate bubbled up. The blonde slammed his head into the mirror and screamed._

"_I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!! I HATE YOU!!!" He grabbed whatever he could find and started throwing it. After his emotional meltdown, Naruto slid to the floor and cried himself to sleep. His wounds were healed in a couple of minutes, unbeknownst to him._

Naruto looked at Gaara with eyes full of empathy. The redhead glared furiously at him before smirking. Putting his hands together, he formed a seal that worried his team up above.

'_No!'_ Temari thought. _'He's not supposed to let it out! The invasion will start any minute now!' _

"Forced Sleep Jutsu," Gaara growled. The effect was immediate as the redhead's eyes closed and he fell asleep. Naruto looked confused and anxious.

'_What is he doi—!'_ The blonde's question was answered quickly as the ground started to shake and sand started to fill the stadium. He watched with wide eyes as Gaara's body began to continue mutating.

**Yes! I'm free!! I'm finally free!!**

Naruto shuddered at the deep voice. Everybody in the stadium saw as a monster made of sand began to rise. It had black markings all over the sand, had golden eyes, looked like a tanuki, and was cackling maniacally. At the top of its head was Naruto's opponent.

**You!** The beast pointed at Naruto. **I will kill you and I will have your blood!! **

'_Well,'_ Naruto thought, _'at least we all know where he gets it from.'_

'_This is bad. Really bad. Gaara will kill everything!'_ Temari thought from her place in the balcony.

'_Naruto will be okay. He's strong enough to take this guy, and if anything goes wrong, I'll interfere,'_ Sasuke thought worriedly, watching his dobe carefully.

Naruto looked at his opponent thoughtfully. _'I'm going to need to summon **that chakra** if I even want to survive.' _The blonde took a deep breath before putting his hands together and summoning red chakra.

The villagers and other shinobi could only watch in horror as the chakra that monster who had killed their precious Yondaime-sama used appeared. Kakashi, who had revealed his Sharingan as soon as the match started, nearly choked on his saliva.

"I didn't teach him that," he whispered.

"No, we did." Everybody turned to see Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Why would you do that? The villagers will kill him when this match is over!" The silver-haired Jounin exclaimed, his voice slightly fearful.

"They can try," Tsunade snarled. "Those damn villagers will not lay a hand on my godson! And any that do will be joining me and a couple others in a lovely torture chamber." Jiraiya placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to placate her.

"We had to teach it to him. The **You-Know-Who's** chakra is merging with his, and he needed to learn how to control it. During the month we were training him, he managed to contact **You-Know-Who**. They made a deal. You see, the **you-know-what** that was placed on him ties his and **You-Know-Who's** life together. If he dies, then **You-Know-Who** dies. **You-Know-Who** wouldn't allow that, and allows Naruto to access its chakra," Jiraiya explained, irritated. If they weren't in the open, he's be allowed to say 'Kyuubi'. However, he remembered the law and didn't wish to be sentenced to death or thrown in jail for breaking it.

"What the hell is a **you-know-what** and who is **you-know-who**?" Ino asked, extremely agitated that she _didn't_ know **You-Know-Who **and **you-know-what**. (1)

"We're not allowed to say. You'll just have to ask Naruto if he's willing to tell you that," Tsunade said, having gotten control over her temper. There was a loud crash and a yell of pain causing them to once again look at the match. Naruto was slammed into the wall harshly, and wasn't getting back up. The blonde never noticed the claw made of sand in position and ready to crush him.

"NARUTO!!"

A/N: Yay! Cliffhanger time. I know it's been more than a week, and I do apologize. I just wanted to make the fight scene, the one I suck at writing T-T, super long. I decided to write this in two parts, so I'll get to work on the next chapter. Also, this is a short story, so it's almost complete. Depending on how many people ask, I may write a sequel. One more thing: I will go back and post the error-free version of the entire story as soon as my buddy Camri gives it to me. Thanks for all the reviews I received thus far, and I'm really glad so many people enjoy my story. **The next chapter should be up in a week or a little bit more than that. It depends on how fast I type and whatever life throws at me. Review!**

(1) This part makes me laugh so hard. It sounds like I'm talking about Voldemort from Harry Potter. LOL.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Battle of the Jinchuuriki

Author: Rokudaime Kunoichi

Rated: T

Genre: Friendship

Summary: Naruto doesn't fight Neji. Instead, he fights Gaara!! What secrets will be revealed? Light SasuNaru.

Warnings: Light Angst, OOC-ness, Drama, _**Child Abuse**_, shounen-ai, etc.

Disclaimer: Naruto and co. belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright/trademark infringement is intended. No profit is made from the making of this story.

A/N: Thank you everybody for the awesome reviews. I think I'll be making a sequel, we'll see. Here's the next chapter. It contains the last of the fight scene, so it's a little bit lengthy. I think I'll be writing one more chapter after this. Ah, all good things must come to an end. Gosh, I feel like bawling. T-T

Chapter 5

"NARUTO!!" The blonde looked up just in time to see Sasuke and Sakura jump in front of him. His blue eyes widened as he noticed the claw of sand grab them and slam them into a stadium wall. Both let out a yell of pain and coughed a little bit of blood. The sand monster smirked and squeezed a little bit harder. Sakura passed out from the pain and Sasuke was stubbornly trying to keep his eyes from closing.

'_Why did they do that? Why!?'_ he thought, his eyes still wide and his mouth slightly agape.

**Who are these people to you?** The sand demon questioned, smirking. **Are these your friends? Your loved ones? **

Naruto glared at Shukaku. "Let them go! This is between you and me!" Everybody in the stadium could hear the desperation in his voice. Shukaku smirked.

**Let me think for a second... Um, NO!** Naruto growled furiously and took off his vest before putting his hands together in a seal.

'_I didn't want to use this, but that thing leaves me no choice. I just hope everybody will understand the purpose of me doing this,'_ the blonde thought. Naruto made some quick handseals and his body shimmered; the blonde canceled a genjutsu and now on his arm, a weird looking seal appeared on it. Naruto nipped his finger and ran the blood over the seal. He then performed a plethora of handseals at lightning speed before slamming his hands down on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Kyuubi no Kitsune!" The ground started to shake and red chakra began to fill the stadium. A large puff of blood red smoke appeared, and when it left, the villagers felt ice cold fear grip their hearts. There in all his demon glory was the Kyuubi; its nine tails swished back and forth, thankfully not knocking anything down.

"I did not teach him that," Jiraiya said slowly as many people turned to him. "Hell, I didn't even know he could summon the demon!" Kakashi then turned to Tsunade, who was trying her best to look innocent. When she noticed everybody's attention shifted from Jiraiya to her, she caved in.

"Alright, so I taught him how to summon the actual demon. He needs to protect himself!"

"From what? Certainly not Konoha!" Kurenai exclaimed, not knowing anything about Naruto's past other than the fact that he was the container for the Kyuubi.

"_Especially_ from Konoha! This village is filled with hypocrites and bigots, and I for one will not stand back and watch them abuse my godson any longer. He wants to protect this damn village—fine! I have promised to help him accomplish his dream, and if that means teach him to use whatever he can in his arsenal, then you can be damn sure that I'll do it!" Tsunade's face was a little flushed after she finished her little speech.

"Why would the village abuse him? It's not like he did anything wrong," Kiba said, effectively reminding the older generation that they were not alone and still had to watch what they said. Tsunade stiffened.

"It's not our place to say," she muttered. Shikamaru looked inside the stadium with wide eyes. For once, he wasn't asleep. He had decided to watch the match between Naruto and Gaara, mainly because he not only wanted to see how Naruto could manage to beat the Suna nin, but also because he was at the hospital with Gai when the redhead tried to kill Lee. Right now, inside his head, wheels were turning.

'_Let me think; Naruto has always been hated by everyone, he can use that freaky red chakra, can summon the Kyuubi no Kitsune—a creature that the Yondaime was said to have killed—and has whisker-like marks on his cheeks. It's pretty safe to say that Naruto here is a Jinchuuriki and the Yondaime was not able to actually kill the demon. Of course not; the Yondaime may have been great, but he was only human. Why Naruto, though? Unless they have some sort of connection. Now that I think of it, they look alike. Too alike for people that aren't related. But, the Yondaime didn't have any family other than his wife Uzumaki Hikaru... does that mean that Naruto is the last of the Kazama and_ _Uzumaki clans?'_ Shikamaru thought, a frown upon his face. _'Mendokuse.'_ The Nara then looked at the older generation and cocked an eyebrow before making a gesture at Naruto and the statue of the Yondaime. Some of their eyes widened as they realized he figured everything out.

'_Well, he does have an IQ over 200,'_ Asuma thought. _'I just can't believe he figured it out in less than three minutes.'_ He gave a tiny nod and watched as his pupil sighed and muttered his favorite word before watching the match.

Naruto was breathing heavily from his place at the top of Kyuubi's head. He could hear the villagers' whispering vile and horrible things about him and tried his best to ignore it. Facing his opponent, he noted that Shukaku's face was one of shock and horror with a little bit of amusement on the side. Pretty soon, the demon was cackling again.

**HAHAHAHA!! TO THINK THAT THE GREAT KYUUBI NO KITSUNE, LORD OF THE BIJU, WAS SEALED INTO A HOST!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!** The demon in question growled.

_**IF YOU THINK THAT I STILL CAN'T BEAT YOUR TANUKI ASS, YOU'RE IN FOR A RUDE AWAKENING! LAST TIME I CHECKED, IT WAS ME WHO CLEANED THE**_ _**FLOOR WITH YOUR ASS AT THE LAST MEETING!!!**_ Shukaku stopped laughing and glared at Kyuubi. Then, he grinned from ear to ear.

**YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET DOING THAT!! I'LL KILL YOU AND TAKE YOUR PLACE AS LORD OF THE BIJU!!! THEN WE'LL SEE WHO THE BEST DEMON IS!** Shukaku sucked in a large amount of air and then spat it out at Kyuubi, who merely flicked his tails. Sand flew everywhere and all the ninja in the audience put up chakra shields to protect the villagers. From his place, the Sandaime looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

"Oh dear. It looks like things are going to get really interesting," he mumbled. Next to him, the Kazekage nodded his head.

'_Yes, things are getting really interesting. And after this fight, I'll give the signal, and the invasion shall commence. Konoha will be no more,'_ the Kazekage, or rather Orochimaru in disguise, thought with glee.

Naruto clutched onto the Kyuubi's fur and held on for dear life. Shukaku kept attacking Kyuubi, who in turn dodged, which caused Naruto to fly about like a rag doll. The blonde used chakra to stay atop Kyuubi's head and snuggled into the warmth.

'_Jeez, Naruto! We're in the middle of a battle for our lives and you're snuggling into the reason why your life is like shit! And let's not forget that the sand is squeezing—OH KAMI-SAMA! I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT SASUKE AND SAKURA!'_ Naruto quickly looked at his teammates. Sakura was still unconscious, and Sasuke was close to following her. _'I have to do something!'_

"KYUUBI! WE HAVE TO DEFEAT THIS GUY SO THAT HE CAN LET GO OF SASU-KUN AND SAKURA-CHAN!" he yelled, not noticing the suffix he added to Sasuke's name.

_**GEE, I'M A LITTLE BUSY RIGHT NOW!**_ Kyuubi growled, growing quickly annoyed as Shukaku kept attacking him and dodging any moves he made.

"WELL, WHAT CAN WE DO? IS THERE A WAY TO MAKE THAT TANUKI-TEME GO BACK TO WHEREVER THE HELL HE CAME FROM!?"

_**YEAH, I CAN KILL HIM!**_

"WAIT, WOULDN'T THAT HURT GAARA!?"

_**WHY DO YOU CARE? HE TRIED TO KILL YOU!**_

"BUT, HE DOESN'T KNOW ANY BETTER! WE CAN'T JUST KILL HIM!"

_**YOU DAMN HUMANS AND YOUR STUPID EMOTIONS! FINE, WE WON'T KILL HIM.**_

"GREAT! NOW WHAT DO WE DO!?"

_**SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME THINK!**_ Kyuubi used his claws to rip off one of Shukaku's arms. Then, he noticed Gaara on top of the one-tail's head. _**I HAVE AN IDEA!**_

"WHAT IS IT!?"

_**YOU HAVE TO WAKE SHUKAKU'S HOST UP!**_

"ALRIGHT! LET'S DO IT!" Kyuubi stood on his hind legs and used his claws to grasp the tanuki's shoulders. Naruto saw this as his chance and jumped onto Shukaku's head. He ran toward Gaara, fist raised and ready to punch the redhead when sand grasped his foot. The sand started to creep up his leg, and he tried to get it to loosen up. Pretty soon, his arms and legs were covered in sand and the blonde could not move.

'_Just a little bit closer! Almost there! I have to wake him up; I have to protect my friends the way they protected me. I HAVE TO!' _

"WAKE THE FUCK UP!" he screeched, bashing his skull into Gaara's. The Suna nin woke up quickly, pain exploding in his forehead.

**NOOOOOO! I STILL WANT TO PLAY! I HAVE TO DEFEAT KYUUBI! I HAVE TO BECOME THE NEW LORD OF THE BIJU! I HAVE TO!!** Shukaku screeched as his body started to fall apart. Naruto's body relaxed slightly as the sand that was squeezing him stopped. He whirled around to see the sand that was slowly killing Sasuke and Sakura collapsed. His eyes widened; both of his teammates were about thirty feet above the ground. The fall alone would kill them, especially since their bodies took quite a beating. The blonde quickly created a clone and ran toward his friends. His arms opened and he caught Sasuke—barely. The Uchiha groaned as his body felt like it was on fire. He gave Naruto a weak grin before he allowed his body to slip into the welcoming darkness.

'_He did it,'_ was his last thought. Naruto shakily checked for a pulse and nearly dropped in relief when he felt one. Absentmindedly, he did the same for Sakura and gently laid his teammates side by side. Naruto summoned two more clones to guard his friends while he went to go finish the battle with Gaara. The redhead's forehead was bleeding, he was completely out of chakra, his body was broken and battered, and he glared hatefully at the blonde.

"How did you defeat it!? Nobody has ever done that before!" he yelled.

Naruto looked confused before he realized that Kyuubi had left. In his haste to get his companions, he failed to notice before and since the Suna nin had been asleep nearly the entire time, he didn't know that Naruto was just like him: a Jinchuuriki, a human sacrifice. One who was forced to give up his humanity for the sake of his village, regardless if you were to be made a weapon and nothing more or if you were the only hope of protection.

"I was able to defeat it because I'm just like you," Naruto answered. Gaara's eyes narrowed to the point where they were almost slits.

"You are nothing like me," he growled. "What the hell do you know about hatred and loneliness? Nothing!" Naruto was instantly reminded of Inari, the little boy he had met in wave.

"_Why do you bother fighting!?" Inari screamed, slamming his hands down on the table. Everything was quiet as everybody stopped eating dinner. "All you'll do is get killed! You should stay out of thing's that aren't your business! Leave before it's too late!"_

"_Shut up, you big cry baby! You think sitting around, moping, will do your village any good!?" Naruto yelled back, his normally warm and caring blue eyes having a tint of red. _

"_WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW!? YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S LIKE TO SUFFER AND TO BE TREATED LIKE DIRT! SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT THINGS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" The tension in the air reached an all-time high. Then, Naruto chuckled. Not one of his idiotic, carefree chuckles. No, this one was much darker and contained no amount of amusement. _

"_I have no idea what it's like to suffer and be treated like dirt? Let me tell you something, I do know. And you don't see my moping around. So do everybody a favor and stop sitting around, crying like a fucking baby. You don't like how you're being treated? Fine! Do something about it and make a goddamn difference. Maybe then your adopted dad would be proud to call you his son," Naruto said coldly. Inari gasped and tears rolled down his face before he turned around and ran to his room._

"_Naruto! You went way too far! I know he yelled at you, but did you really… have to…" Sakura didn't finish her sentence. Naruto had already left, not before allowing her to see his icy glare. She shuddered, hoping she'll never have to see them again._

"Actually, I know a lot about what you're going through. In this entire country, did you really think you're the only one with a demon sealed inside you?" Naruto said it quietly, but it echoed in the quiet stadium. Atop the balcony, many people, the younger generation actually, gasped in surprise.

"What does he mean?" Ino whispered, her eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. Before anybody could say anything, the conversation below continued.

"_You _have a _demon_ inside you? Right!" Gaara scoffed. Naruto grinned a little.

"Hard to believe, isn't it? After all, I'm the carefree, happy-go-lucky, ever-the-optimistic moron. You know, my teacher once told me to look underneath the underneath. Why is it that nobody's looked underneath this stupid mask yet?" Naruto questioned, his head cocked to the side and his eyes wide with innocence. "Well, it doesn't matter. Nobody but the older generation knows what I have sealed inside me."

"Why is that?" Gaara asked, curiosity overriding insanity for a brief moment.

"Twelve years ago, the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked our village. The only way to stop him was to seal him inside a newborn baby, one whose umbilical cord had just been cut. Guess I was pretty lucky, huh? The Yondaime, our leader, was the one to seal him into me. Before he died, he created a law that forbid the older generation from talking about it and forbid the younger generation from knowing anything about it. I didn't even know until somebody decided to enlighten me," the blonde explained. "I always wondered what I did wrong. I mean, no matter how hard I tried to stay out of the villager's way, they kept finding and beating the crap out of me." Gaara glared at him.

"So why do you protect them!? What have they done to deserve it!?" the redhead screamed, furious.

"They haven't deserved any of it. But, I want to prove them wrong; show them that I'm not some demon that will betray them. I want their respect and acknowledgement, and I will not rest until I have it. Besides, you can't expect them to accept what they can't understand. Kyuubi killed their loved ones, and instead of the demon being killed and having their comrades avenged, the demon is instead sealed into somebody. They took out all their pain and hurt on the next best thing."

"SO WHAT!? THAT DOESN'T GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO HURT US! WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO THEM!? WE DIDN'T ASK TO BE FORCED TO BECOME JINCHUURIKI!!" Naruto smiled.

"No, we didn't. But, if nobody else carries this burden, who else will? Would you wish this on some other innocent child?"

"We were innocent once," Gaara angrily whispered. "We were and they took that away from us! And I will make sure they pay."

"All you're doing is hurting yourself even more, I would know. They hated me, and so I hated them back. All it ever did was cause me to hate myself even more for stooping to their level. And besides, not everybody hates us. My friends don't hate me, and if you ever threaten to take them away I'll kill you." Naruto's face was stony and had Gaara been someone else, he would've flinched at the intensity of his eyes.

"Friends?" Gaara scoffed. "All they'll ever do is betray you."

"No," Naruto argued. "My friends won't. They saved me from my personal hell. They gave me the strength to get up after every beating; to move forward with my life. I can't imagine how different my life would be without them." His eyes glistened over, and Gaara felt a very familiar clench in his heart.

"_Yashamaru, why does it hurt?" Gaara asked his uncle, his eyes shining with confusion. _

"_What do you mean, Gaara-kun?" His blonde uncle stopped washing the dishes and walked over to the couch where his nephew sat._

"_Well, I don't know what you call it, but everytime I see those kids at the playground, it starts to hurt right here," Gaara explained, placing his pale hand over his chest._

"_Ah, I think I know what you're talking about." Yashamaru gave Gaara a small smile. "You see, Gaara, you probably just feel a little heartache." _

"_Heartache?" _

"_Yes. People usually get heartaches when they miss a person, or have particularly strong feelings towards something or someone. It can be good or bad." Gaara frowned slightly before putting his hand back on his chest._

"_I don't think this is a good heartache," he whispered._

"Winner, Uzumaki Naruto!" exclaimed Raidou, who had moved away to safety.

The crowed erupted into cheers; not that they were happy that the demon won, more like they were happy that Gaara had been defeated. Not to mention the fact that the match had been the most entertaining many had ever seen. Naruto gave Gaara a tiny smile.

"You know, it's not too late to change your purpose in this life," he suggested.

"And what am I going to do now? I have been defeated," Gaara said tiredly. What would he do now? He was no longer an effective weapon; one defeat was one too many.

"Do what I do. Prove the villagers that they're wrong about you; show them that you're somebody worthy of their kindness." The blonde turned and walked away, leaving the redhead to ponder on his words. Naruto made his way up the stairs, thankful that Kakashi and Jiraiya saw fit to carry Sasuke and Sakura back to the audience. As soon as he reached the top, somebody punched him in the face—hard. The blonde saw stars for a few moments before he shook his head and looked at who exactly hit him. Standing in front of him was Ino; her body was shaking angrily and her eyes were red, evidence that she was crying.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell us!?" she screamed furiously. "We're supposed to be friends and you keep something like this from us? Don't you trust us!?" Naruto stared at her in shock.

"It's an S-class secret," he mumbled. "And I didn't want anybody to know. It's bad enough that most of our generation hates me because of what their parents say. I wasn't sure how everybody would react, especially since a good number of your family members were killed that night."

"What difference does that make!? You're only the container, not the Kyuubi! Did you think we wouldn't be able to tell the difference!?"

"I didn't know what to think." Ino narrowed her eyes before her shoulders dropped.

"Naruto, you're still you. Being a Jinchuuriki doesn't change anything. We'll still be your friend," she murmured.

"I know that," Naruto grinned. He looked around to see his friends nod in the affirmative.

"Mendokuse," Shikamaru groaned. "You can't change who you are or what you have in you, so stop being so damn troublesome!" The blonde laughed and smiled brightly, relief nestling in his heart and making him feel unbelievably warm and fuzzy. Crap, Sasuke was right! He was acting like a girl now! As if on cue, his two other teammates groaned and started to wake up.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, putting her hand to her forehead.

"You had to act all brave and do something stupid, forehead-baka!"

"Who are you calling a baka, Ino-pig!?" Sakura yelled, a vein popping in her forehead. It wasn't long until the rivals began arguing, eliciting laughter from their friends.

"Dobe, how long have I been out?" Sasuke asked Naruto quietly. The blonde looked at him and gave him a small grin.

"Not long, ten minutes, maybe fifteen?" The Uchiha nodded his head. Sasuke couldn't help but notice that Naruto was in deep thought. "What's the matter dobe?"

Naruto looked a bit startled. "Nothing, why would something be the matter?" The blonde gave him a big smile as if to prove his point; Sasuke still didn't believe him.

"Don't lie to me. I've known you for years; do you really think you can fool me?" He said this quietly so that he wouldn't alert the others. Naruto sighed before leaving, gesturing for Sasuke to follow him. They went unnoticed since Naruto created two Kage Bunshins; they didn't want to worry anyone with their absence nor did they wish to tell anyone where they were going. Hell, Sasuke wasn't even sure. All he knew was that at this moment, Naruto needed someone to talk to and Sasuke was the lucky person. Not that he minded, he actually felt honored that the blonde would lean on his shoulder when he needed it. It reminded him of the time in wave, after he almost died.

_Sasuke growled. He had to look for his teammate Naruto since the blonde was training and it was time for dinner. Tsunami had made them some delicious stew, and he was fucking hungry! He came across a field and his breath caught in his throat. There stood Naruto; he was training against a couple shadow clones. Sasuke couldn't help but leer at his best friend. Naruto did not wear his jacket; in fact, it lay twenty feet away from him inside of a suspicious crater. A drop of sweat slid down the blonde's face, and Sasuke's eyes followed it until it reached Naruto's lips. The Uchiha's throat went dry, and he quickly pried his eyes away from the sight. He took in a deep breath before stuffing his hands in his pocket and casually walking towards his teammate._

"_Hey, Naruto, dinner is ready," he said, pretending not to notice how Naruto's belly showed as he stretched. _

"_Fine," Naruto replied, dispelling the clones and walking over to retrieve his jacket. He started walking to the house, not looking or talking to Sasuke. Said ninja twitched; nobody ignores an Uchiha! Sasuke walked beside Naruto._

"_Tch, what's your problem, dobe?" The blonde stopped and spun towards him. His blue eyes were narrowed in anger._

"_Why did you do it!?" he yelled, asking the question he was so curious about. "Why did you jump in front of me? Why!?" Sasuke looked slightly startled._

"_I already told you why; my bo—" _

"_Bullshit," Naruto interrupted. "You owe me a real reason!" Sasuke glared at him._

"_I don't own you anything," he sneered. _

"_Yes you do, teme! Everybody in the village loves you, and you do something stupid and nearly die!"_

"_You would think, since I saved your sorry ass, you'd be grateful!" Sasuke shouted back._

"_Nobody in the village would care if I died! But if you, the almighty last Uchiha, died then the village would be in an uproar!"_

"_Is that all you're concerned about!? THE FUCKING VILLAGE!?" Sasuke screamed, losing all of his composure. _

"_You shouldn't have done it," murmured Naruto. "Why risk your life for me? I'm nobody important; just some insignificant monster that the village would love to get rid of." Sasuke barely heard what the blonde was saying. _

"_I risked my life for yours because you've become important to me. You're probably the only person in this whole village who understands me, my best friend. I've never had that type of bond before," Sasuke sighed. "And my body really did move on its own. I guess you've always been important to me in some way."_

_Naruto's shoulders dropped. "You've become important to me, too. No matter what happened to me, you've always been a constant that I could count on, I guess. And when I saw you die, felt you die, I didn't know what to do. You scared me, teme." They were quiet for a while before Sasuke jammed his hands in his pocket once again._

"_Come on, dobe. I'm hungry." Naruto smiled at him before they continued on their journey to the kitchen of Tsunami. "And, uh, I'll be here if you need to talk." The blonde looked at Sasuke, who had his face turned and had a light pink hue on his cheeks. It was obvious he'd never told anybody this sort of thing before._

"_I know, teme. Thank you."_

Naruto sighed heavily. He rubbed his temples, a sign that he was stressed. Sasuke stood there patiently. He looked at the overview of the village. They were at the top of the Hokage mountain after Naruto took them there via teleportation. The two stood in silence for a full five minutes before Naruto began speaking.

"We're so alike," the blonde muttered. "We are so alike and yet so different. Both of us, hated for something beyond our control." Sasuke instantly knew that Naruto was talking about himself and Gaara. "And yet, we both came up with different ways to cope. His was killing everybody in existence, and mine was to become the village idiot. And I can't help but keep thinking, if Iruka-sensei or Kakashi-sensei or you and Sakura-chan and everybody else hadn't saved me from my hell that I would've become just like him."

"No, you wouldn't have," Sasuke said.

"How do you know? How do you know that I wouldn't have become a monster or that I'm not one right now?"

"Because," said Sasuke, "you're Naruto. I can't imagine you killing anybody unless you absolutely had to."

Naruto gave a little chuckle, his throat constricting and his eyes glistening. "I want to believe you." Sasuke grabbed Naruto's chin and forced him to look at him.

"You listen to me, Naruto! You are one of the most kind-hearted people I know. This village doesn't deserve your love or devotion, and yet you willingly give it to them without any cost. You really think that you're capable of killing needlessly?" Naruto gently shook his head 'no.'

"I suppose I can't," he mumbled, eyes downcast. Sasuke growled a little, causing Naruto's eyes to snap back up. It was then that he realized that they were in very close proximity and that he could feel Sasuke's warm breath on his lips; could feel Sasuke's body almost pressed up against his. Sasuke also seemed to notice this as he licked his suddenly dry lips.

"You know you can't," he whispered, his head leaning in closer to the blonde's. Naruto also leaned in closer, his eyes closing. They were about to kiss when they heard an explosion near the stadium. Naruto's eyes widened and he teleported them back to where the Chuunin Exams were taking place. Discreetly replacing themselves with the Kage Bunshin, they noticed feathers falling and everybody asleep. Recognizing it as genjutsu, they dispelled it on themselves before dispelling it on the useful genin, like most of the Rookie Nine; it wouldn't be right to try and wake Lee when he couldn't fight.

"What's happening?" Tenten asked, looking around and rubbing her eyes to get rid of sleep.

"We're under attack," Asuma told them, getting out kunai and shuriken. "You all have to help us fight." The genin nodded in the affirmative.

"Where's the Hokage?" Kurenai asked, noticing the now empty Kage box. "And where are Tsunade and Jiraiya?"

"Up there!" Ino exclaimed, pointing towards the roof. There was a purple barrier surrounding the Hokage and the three Sannin. Before anybody could do anything, Sand shinobi and Oto shinobi started flooding through the gates of Konoha.

"The city must be under evacuation by now," Kakashi said, porn book away and weapons out. "Team Seven, your mission is to protect each other and defeat the enemy. Kill if necessary." His team nodded.

"Teams Eight, Nine, and Ten, your orders are the same," the other jounins said.

And thus, the Suna-Oto invasion began.

A/N: This seemed like a fitting ending. And, I added a drop of SasuNaru fluff. This story should end the next chapter, but you never know. My plot bunny might eat some more idea carrots. I'm pretty sure this will end by the next chapter though. I've decided that I will be writing a sequel. Also, I will take a little vote.

**You have two choices:**

**A) The sequel can be rated M and contain MPreg with Naruto being the one to get pregnant (I'm thinking of a scientific way to make that possible.) I'm going to try to improve my action and fighting skills, so this will be kind of gruesome and bloody.**

**B) The sequel can be rated T and I'll come up with a problem our couple has to go through.**

You have a _**week**_ to vote. Ja Ne!


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